College football's bowl season perfect time for you to break in your couch

Thirty-five college games can be viewed from the comfort of your favorite chair beginning with Saturday’s Gildan New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque (Colorado State-Washington State) and ending Jan. 6 with the Vizio BCS championship game from the Rose Bowl (Auburn vs. Florida State).

(Commercial break: Nearly all bowls have sponsors in their titles. Gildan produces men’s T-shirts and sweat shirts; Vizio is a major electronics company.)

I’m not the only college football fan who remembers when armchair bowling occurred during three days on the New Year’s weekend rather than three weeks during the holiday season.

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Recall the original Big Four: Rose in Pasadena, Orange in Miami, Sugar in New Orleans and Cotton in Dallas.

The bowl scenario has gradually evolved into an ESPN Football Festival — 31 out of the 35 games this season, including the national championship.

In most cases, going bowling has become a profitable venture for ESPN, the colleges and universities involved and game sites.

Also ESPN can boast that its bowl coverage helps the national employment picture, giving broadcasters who are not household names a chance to display their professional wares.

When and where to go bowling?

Obviously, local fans will be watching and rooting for CSU on Saturday.

And the college football nation will be tuned in Jan. 6 for the last BCS championship game. The new competitive format kicks in next season.

I’m curious about the Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio on Dec. 30 — Oregon vs. Texas, with Mack Brown making his final appearance as Longhorns head coach.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl from New Orleans on Jan. 2 matches Oklahoma and Alabama. Many college football fans feel the Crimson Tide remains the best college team despite the storybook loss to Auburn.

The most competitive game could be played Jan. 3 Dallas in the AT&T Cotton Bowl — Oklahoma State-Missouri. One game I plan to pass: the GoDaddy Bowl from Mobile, Ala. on Jan. 5. I can’t get excited about Arkansas State and Ball State.

Like to plan ahead on your bowling program?

ESPN has announced it’s creating another game for next season.

You’ll be able to watch the Camellia Bowl from Montgomery, Ala., featuring the champions from the Sun Belt and Mid America conferences.

The bowl list keeps growing, although we’ll probably never see a Lemon Bowl or Toilet Bowl featuring two terrible teams playing in an undesirable part of the country.

But just think of the promotional fun ESPN’s Chris Berman could create.